Shoe tip protector



Patented Nov. 16, 1943 UNITED' S'IATES` "PATENT OFFICE assaut i snor;'r11'. rrtorrnoron. estar t. ehertok', Brooklyn, N. Y; aaeeiieatienpeeemter s, 1940seria1Ne. 368,951

` r claim. (ci. 3ft- 72) Thisinventionrelates generally teY the tootwearf tector prevents, the 'shoe from being injured.

thereunder, and also/actsA to protectthe Wearers foot. should any heavyobject fall; upon the shoe. Another object. herein lies. in theprovision of shoe tin protecting structureA which is readilyY fabricatedin large quantities at low cost so that the same, mayhave.ajconsequentjwide use and distribution. f y n .A still further objectjhereinliesinthefprovision of shoe tip. Protecting structure which isreadily' detachably engageable,V with, the shoe, requiring ne specialvtools or'skill for this, purpose. In ac-.1

cordance with thepresent novel construction...` the shoe tip protectorwhen ingplaceA does not` damagev the shoe in any conspicuous or vitalportions thereof.

A feature" of the present invention lies` in the fact. that, when the.shoe protector is, in place upon the shoe,j the. protector is securelyheld thereat. against movement in many directions so that aceidentaldisplacelfnent` thereofv is extremely remote. y

These objects. `and other incidental ends and advantages will more fullyappear` in the progress ofthis disclosurey and be.` pointedl out. intheL appended claim. I

VIn the drawing constituting a material part, hereof, similar referencecharacters designate corresponding parts throughout the several, viewsin which: l

Figure 1' is a front elevational' View of' a shoe having associatedtherewith a rst embodiment of the invention.

Figure 2 is a fragmentary enlarged Verticalsecf tionalV view,constitutingn a medial section of the forwardportion of `Figure 1.

`Figure 3* isafragmentary enlarged' view in perspective showing indetail two of the, sole edge similar to- Figure 11, but taken from ahigher viewpoint.

Figure 7 is aperspective view ofA a secondA eine'y bodiment of theinvention, in place upona shoe.`

Turning now to` the first. embodiment. of. the.

invention illustrated in Figures` `l toi` 6l inclusive;r

the shoe `tip protector is. generally indi-catedI by;

numeral It). The protector I0 is of irregular configuration andtheshape.- thereofis bestA seen. prof. tector Il) includes a shoe tipcovering portion Ht;

in the several figures of. the drawing..

a welt engaging rib L2.; a-.soletop engaging ange I3; a sole peripheryengaging vertical rim I4 and a sole bottom engaging lip- I5.

The protector I''` is preferably lfabricated ofi a stimateriale havingsome resiliencyv An example of such material is sheet steel. When madefrom sheet steel', the protector lilv maybe manufactured in onepiecebysuitable blanking and forming operations;

The tipV covering portion H is generally of" convex shape, but theconfiguration thereof is pri'- marily determined' byV the externalconfiguration of the shoe tip I6. The upper rear edge I8 ofthe portionII may extend rearwardly on, the shoe p any suitable distance, and the,rearward extenof the shoe when placed thereon) and formsin part the weltengaging rib I2; From the welt engaging rib I2, the material of which,the protector Itis composed extends radially outwardly in a horizontalplane to form the flange I3; The,

convergence or juncture formed by the lower front part of the tipcovering portion I I andthe rearl part of the solel top, engaging flangeI3 form an acute angle with relation to each other.

The outer edge `portion oi the sole tcp engagingflange I3 forms, a rightangle with. rel'ation to the vertical rim I llr which engages thepe-`riphery of theY sole. The rim I4 is preferably coextensive with theedge i8', though where desired,

lsaid rim may extend' rearwardly along the edge.

of the solev 2i), to some point beyond the edge l; The forward portion of the lower edge 2i. has extending' rearwardly therefrom, andpreferably. at-right angles-thereto, the bottom engaging lip I5. Therear edge 22 of the lip I5 is preferably rounded as best seen in Figure4. The inner opposed surfaces oi the flange I3 and the lip I5 arepreferably parallel and are spaced from each other a distance equal toor slightly greater than the thickness of the sole 2Q.

The rear portions of the rim le are provided with sole edge engagingprongs 23 to 28 inclusive.

larin shape and have the points thereof facing forwardly of the shoe I1and the protector Ill.

These prongs are formed by making a series ofM V-shaped incisions 29 andthen forcing inwardly the prongs so that they take a position as'seen inFigure 4. The rim I4 is composed of relatively stiff resilient materialso that the prongs have a spring-like action. f

The outer surface of the protector may be treated in such manner as totake on an appearance harmonious with the shoe with which the protectoris to be used. Examples of such nishes are bright plating, coloredenamel, or certain chemical nishes such as gun-metalling. The brightervfinishes are ymore suited to childrens shoes while the more subduedfinishes are more adapted for adults shoes,

` The sole top engaging ange is preferably of uniform width so that'thesame may properly overlay Vthe upper portion of the exposed sole edge.

` Operation The operation of the rst embodiment of the device issubstantially as follows:

The protector II] is held in a position corresponding to the oneit willoccupy when fully seated upon the shoe and with the lower surface of thelining I9 resting upon the outer surface of the shoe tip I 6, the entiredevice is moved rearwardly upon the shoe. As the device is pushed to therear, the rim I 4 will be guided in position as the flangeV I3 slidesover the upper surface of the sole edge. Since the prongs23 to 28inclusive are positioned inwardly of the inner surface of the rim lli,they contact the outer surface of the edge of the sole 20 and arepressed outwardly toward the rim IG. The device is then pushed into itsfully seated position so that the portion 35 (see Figure 2) contacts theouter surface of the sole 20 at the front central portion thereof. Inits fully seated position, the

protector becomes for practical purposes anv inl Movement of theprotegral part of the shoe. tector I Il downwardly of the shoe isprevented by such movement. Upward movement of the device is preventedby the rib I and the lip I abutting the adjacent parts. Rearwardmovement is prevented by the portion 35 abutting theforward centralportion of the front edge of the sole 2G as well as other parts abuttingthe shoe. Forward movement of the protector I relative to the shoe isprevented by the prongs 23 to 28 inclusive penetrating into the edge ofthe sole 20.

The points of the prongs are urged inwardly since they are spring-likein action, and forward movement'of the rim I4 causes them to dig inmoredeeply into the edge of the sole 2).

Where it is desired to remove the protector, it becomes a simple matterto insert a thin knife blade between the inner surface of the rim l andthe outer surface of the edge of the sole 20. The knife blade ispreferably introduced at the rihese prongs are preferably triangu-Ipoints 36. By reason of the resilient nature of the prongs 23 to 28inclusive, it is not necessary that a different size of the protectorIEI be made for each shoe size, though in order to provide a properco-relation between the parts, it is considered necessary to have leftand right shapes to correspond to the right and left shoes.

Turning now to the second embodiment of the invention shown in Figure 7,parts corresponding to the first embodiment are given singly primedneedless repetition. Y

The principal difference existing between the first embodiment and thesecond embodiment lies in the fact that the tip covering portion Il' isprovided with a plurality of perforations indicated Vgenerally bynumeral 3l and stitch markings indicated generally by numeral 38; andthe sole top engaging flange I3 is provided with a plurality of stitchmarkings 39 and stitcher knife marks 40.

Another difference between the rst and sec'- ond embodiments lies in thefact thatythe edge I8' is irregularly shaped to conform to the shape ofthe shoe tip which lies directly therebelow. It

is thus seen that the protector l0 may be so4 shaped and decorated thatwhen in place, it is` ness and advantages of the present tip protectingconstruction are retained. y

It may thus be seen that I have provided a novel shoe tip protectorwhich may be made at low cost and yet which is light in weight,convenient, and useful. My shoe tip protector furnishes adequateprotection for the shoe as Well as the Wearers foot and yet is readilyput in place or removed without the aid of special skill or tools. Whilethe invention is especially useful in connection with children, to beWorn While playing, or for adults, while engaged in hazardousoccupations, or those in which the front portion of the shoe issubjected to a'great deal of Wear,

it is obvious that any shoe in need of protec? tion may be benefited bythe use of my improved shoe tip protector. l

As contrasted with certain constructions in the prior art, nointerferencev is made with the shoe tip I6 and no pointed objects areinserted into the shoe at the welt, that is to say at the point' shownand described for obvious modifications will occur to a person skilledin the art.

I claim:

For use with a shoe, a shoe tip protector comprising: a tip coveringportion; a sole periphery engaging rim composed of resilient materialand integral with the lower .part of the tip covering portion, said soleperiphery engaging rim being ,generally U-shaped; each of the lateralrear portions of said rim having a V-shaped incision forming atriangularly shaped prong, the point of which is disposed inwardly ofthe rim and forwardly directed with relation to the tip protector andsaid shoe.

OSCAR J. CHERTOK.

